Shandong Luneng succumb to first defeat in 2016 Chinese Super League

15 Nov 2016

Following a close encounter in the previous round of the Chinese Super League, Shandong Luneng finished their battle on Tuesday 25th October with a three-nil verdict.

Unfortunately, the final result was not in their favour. They were beaten by the Bayi Team. Meanwhile, Shanghai was once again tested in the competition but this time, they ended the battle victorious.

Fang Bo, the team leader of Shandong Luneng in the 2016 Chinese Super League. (Photo from OSports)

By Henry Chen

The Shandong Luneng Team made a good start this season, winning the first three rounds. In the previous round, the team came close to the danger of losing taking into account the shaky performance of Fang Bo. Fortunately for the team, they withstood the challenge from Anhui and played all the way until the end.

Their efforts paid off and won the third round with a 3-2 score. Today, 25th October, Shandong Luneng had to face another challenging match. They were against the Bayi Team for a face-off round.

Luneng had the home court advantage today but the team was not able to post a promising start in the battle. Fang Bo lost the opening match in 2-3 (5-11, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 0-7).

Zhang Yudong was next for the Luneng Team and he had to face Bayi’s young leader, Fan Zhendong. Bayi’s 19-year old player has started this season very strong. But the time has come for him to be challenged. Fan Zhendong was surprisingly forced into a decider by Zhang Yudong.

Despite playing in the opposing team’s court, Bayi maintained their control and won the Doubles. Their tandem Zhou Yu and Xu Chenhao swept Luneng’s Zhang Chao and Lin Chen.

Bayi is undefeated again with the score of 3-0.

More challenging encounters in the fourth round

Coming from a defeat in the previous round, Shanghai fought hard in today’s battle against Jiangsu. Shanghai had the support of the crowd but they lost two points from Shang Kun and in the Doubles.

Xu Xin contributed two points winning against Chuang Chih Yuan in the opening match and against Zheng Peifeng in the fourth match. The player who sealed the win for Shanghai was Zheng Rongzhi. He survived Kong Lingxuan in 2-1 (12-10, 9-11, 7-5).

The other surviving team in the round was Shenzhen. Liu Jikang and company defeated the hosts Anhui in 3-2. Liu Jikang won over Yu Ziyang but lost to Wong Chun Ting in 1-3 (1-11, 7-11, 11-9, 9-11). Joo Saehyuk completed the necessary points for Shenzhen after he defeated Zhou Qihao in the decider in 2-1 (11-13, 11-8, 7-5).

Leaders secured success for their respective teams

Ma Long seemed to have adjusted much better this time compared to before. In the fourth round, he posted two sweep victories for Shandong Weiqiao. He ended the hopes of Wang Chuqin and Liang Jingkun. Eventually, Weiqiao sealed their fourth consecutive victory.

Tianjin is also one of the victorious teams this round. Ma Te and Wei Shihao worked together to complete a 3-1 victory against Sichuan.